How to conduct risk assessments

Risk assessments in eCourtDate let you score a case against a published pretrial instrument and download the result as a PDF. Two instruments ship with the platform: the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) and the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument (VPRAI).

### Overview

The **Assessments** screen is a scoring calculator, not a case file. You pick an instrument, enter a case number, answer the instrument's factors, and eCourtDate recalculates the scores as you work. For the PSA, it also suggests a release level and the supervision conditions your agency has attached to that level.

- **What it does:** Scores a case against the PSA or the VPRAI, shows the results on screen, and produces a printable PDF.
- **Why it matters:** Gives your agency a consistent, documented basis for pretrial release and supervision recommendations.
- **Who uses it:** Pretrial officers, case managers, supervisors, and anyone preparing a release recommendation for the court.
- **Expected outcomes:** A scored assessment on screen and a downloaded PDF you can file with the case.

### Prerequisites

- An eCourtDate account that can open **Cases** and the **Assessments** tab (a role can hide either navigation)
- A case number, since **Case Number** is required before any results appear
- The client's criminal history details needed to answer the instrument's factors
- Supervision levels with a **Risk** value, if you want recommended conditions to appear with a PSA release level (set these under **Admin** > **Automations** > **Supervisions**)

### How-To Steps

#### Step 1: Open the Assessments screen

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation.
2. Select the **Assessments** tab.
3. Read the card for each instrument, **Public Safety Assessment** and **Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument**.
4. Click **Learn more** on a card to open the publisher's documentation for that instrument.

#### Step 2: Start an assessment

1. Click **Start Now** on the instrument you want to run.
2. Enter the case number in **Case Number**.
3. Click the matching case number in the suggestion list below the field.

Starting from the case record works too. Open a case under **Cases** and click **PSA** to open the Public Safety Assessment with the case number already filled in.

#### Step 3: Check the details eCourtDate fills in for you

1. Review the client panel that appears after you select a case, which shows **NAME**, **AKA**, **AGE**, and **LANGUAGE** along with any client photos.
2. Confirm **Age at current arrest**, which is calculated from the client's date of birth and the case arrest or offense date.
3. Confirm **Prior failure to appear pretrial in the past two years**, which counts the client's events marked FTA in that window.
4. Confirm **Prior failure to appear pretrial older than two years**, which is checked when the client has an older FTA event.
5. Confirm **Current violent offense**, which is checked when the case offense description matches a violent offense keyword.
6. Click **View Client** to open the client record in a new tab if you need more history.
7. Click **Toggle Client** to hide the client panel on screen once you have checked it.

#### Step 4: Answer the remaining factors

1. Check each factor that applies to the case, such as **Pending charge at the time of the arrest**, **Prior misdemeanor conviction**, **Prior felony conviction**, and **Prior sentence to incarceration** on the PSA.
2. Enter a count in the number fields, such as **Prior violent conviction** on the PSA or **Length of residence (in years)** on the VPRAI.
3. Clear any red message above the results, for example "Case number is required" or "Age at arrest is required".

#### Step 5: Read the results

1. Review the **Results** list, which appears once the required fields are valid.
2. Read the score for each measure the instrument reports, as listed in the table below.
3. Read the **Release Level** heading below the results on a PSA, which eCourtDate derives from the FTA and NCA scores.
4. Review the list under "Recommended conditions:", which shows **Mandatory Statutory Conditions** and **Court Date Notifications** at every release level, **Criminal history checks once per month** at level 2 and above, and **Check-in once per month** at level 3, followed by any supervision level whose **Risk** matches the release level.

| Instrument | Results shown |
|------------|---------------|
| Public Safety Assessment | **New Criminal Arrest (NCA)** and **Failure to Appear (FTA)** as a score from 1 to 6 with a plain language likelihood, plus **New Violent Criminal Arrest (NVCA)** as YES or NO |
| Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument | **Risk Level** from Level 1 (Low risk) to Level 5 (Highest risk), plus **Raw Score** |

#### Step 6: Save the assessment as a PDF

1. Click **PDF** at the top of the card.
2. Save the downloaded file with the case record.

### What to Expect

Scores recalculate as you change each field, so there is no submit step. The **Results** list stays hidden until the required fields pass validation. eCourtDate writes your answers into the page address as you work, so you can bookmark or share the link and reopen the same assessment. The screen has no save step, so the downloaded **PDF** is your copy of the result.

### Best Practices

- Start from the case record's **PSA** button so the case number arrives with the assessment.
- Verify every value eCourtDate fills in, especially **Age at current arrest** and the prior FTA counts, before you rely on the score.
- Download the **PDF** before you close the tab, since the screen has no save step.
- Give each supervision level a **Risk** of 1, 2, or 3 so it lines up with a PSA release level and appears in the recommendations.
- Open **Learn more** when you need the publisher's own definition of a factor.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Which risk assessments are built into eCourtDate?**

A: Two. The **Public Safety Assessment** and the **Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument** appear as cards under **Cases** > **Assessments**.

**Q: Can I build my own assessment questions?**

A: Not from the app. The **Assessments** screen ends with a card headed "Want to Create Custom Risk Assessments?" that asks you to email research@ecourtdate.com.

**Q: Where does my completed assessment go?**

A: Nowhere on its own. The **Assessments** screen has no save step, so download the **PDF** and file it with the case if you need a record.

**Q: Why is the Results list missing?**

A: A validation message replaces it until the required fields are filled. The PSA needs **Case Number** and **Age at current arrest** before it will score.

**Q: Why does the VPRAI not show a release level?**

A: **Release Level** and its recommended conditions are calculated from the PSA scores only. The VPRAI reports **Risk Level** and **Raw Score** instead.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The results will not appear on a PSA.

**Symptoms:** A red message reads "Case number is required" or "Age at arrest is required".

**Solution:** Enter a value in **Case Number**, then enter a value greater than zero in **Age at current arrest**.

**Issue:** A red message asks for a prior conviction.

**Symptoms:** The message reads "Prior conviction is required if prior violent is 1 or more" or "Prior conviction is required if prior sentence is true".

**Solution:** Check **Prior conviction**, or correct **Prior violent conviction** and **Prior sentence to incarceration** if they were entered in error.

**Issue:** No supervision conditions appear under a PSA release level.

**Symptoms:** The recommended conditions list shows only the standard entries, with no supervision level named.

**Solution:** Open **Admin** > **Automations** > **Supervisions** and set the supervision level's **Risk** to the release level you want it to match.

**Issue:** The Assessments tab is missing from Cases.

**Symptoms:** The tab strip on **Cases** shows the other tabs but not **Assessments**.

**Solution:** Ask an administrator to open **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles**, edit your role, and remove assessments from **Hidden Navigations**.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to run assessments](/how-to-run-assessments)
- [How to Manage Cases](/how-to-manage-cases)
- [How to define supervision levels](/how-to-define-supervision-levels)
- [How to manage supervisions](/how-to-manage-supervisions)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)